> DESCRIPTION
Robert Graham's unique ceramic sculptures and recent drawings are the
subject of an exhibition at Frank Lloyd Gallery. Graham, well-known for
his monumental bronze sculptures and civic monuments, has previously
worked in fired clay. Like many sculptors, his ceramic sculptures
convey a direct relationship to his other works, and for Graham the
pieces continue his investigation of the female form. Many of these
works were exhibited in an important show at the legendary Nicholas
Wilder Gallery in 1975. The exhibit continues the gallery's expanded
exhibition program and presents ceramics in an historical context.
Graham's
fluid and gestural recent drawings will also be exhibited with the
artist's ceramic sculpture. His use of melted beeswax mixed with
pigment, which is quickly and freely applied with a brush, is
reminiscent of Sumi ink paintings. There is a realization of form
within the drawings, and an immediacy of touch that reveals the
sculptor's working process and directness.
The spontaneity,
tactility and expression of form are observed in both the recent
drawings and ceramic works that were created over 33 years ago.
Robert
Graham was born in Mexico City in 1938 and studied at San Jose State
University (B.A., 1963) and San Francisco Art Institute (M.F.A., 1964).
Graham's work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern
Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and
over twenty other museums worldwide. Commissioned sculptural
installations include The Great Bronze Doors of the Cathedral of Our
Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, the Charlie Parker Memorial in Kansas
City, Missouri, and the Duke Ellington Monument in New York City, and
the FDR Memorial in Washington DC.